LUBBOCK, TX—Michael Dennis Powers, 47, of Lubbock, Texas, appeared this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy M. Koenig and pleaded guilty to one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography, announced John R. Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Powers faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Powers remains on bond pending his sentencing hearing, which will be scheduled at a later date.

According to documents filed in the case, Powers admitted using a computer at his residence to, among other things, search the Internet for child pornography. In the course of searching for this material, Powers located, downloaded, and viewed numerous files containing child pornography. Powers knew that some of those files were produced using prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On April 9 Powers was in possession of three computer disks containing the child pornography.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The FBI and the Lubbock Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is in charge of the prosecution.